Consumers empowered to spend where it does the most good
Edmonton Journal, Scott Mckeen
Only 15 shopping days until Christmas. How will you vote?
That’s right — vote. Every dollar you spend is a vote for one thing over another, be it Mac over PC, Molson over Labatt, Midas over Speedy.
Increasingly, though, our spending expresses a personal philosophy about the kind of world — and community — we want to create for ourselves and our children.
Some of you buy fair-trade products knowing they help lift developing-world farmers out of poverty. Others purchase environmentally friendly products, or bus passes, to reduce their impact on the Earth.
But how many of us use our dollars to protect or enhance our community, its quality of life, diversity and identity? How many of us even realize such things are at stake when we vote with our wallets?In Friday’s column I wrote about a brand new brewer in Edmonton, Amber’s Brewing Company. Lifelong Edmontonian Jim Gibbon bet everything he owns that enough of you will vote for his unique, superb beers that he’ll be able to survive in a market dominated by multinational brewers.
But he’s far from alone in this David-and-Goliath battle. Almost every locally owned store, restaurant and service business is in the same fight for survival against corporate giants.
The good news, though, is that they’re now joining together to improve the odds. First came Original Fare, an association of locally owned restaurants. Now comes its offshoot, Keep Edmonton Original, open to all other Edmonton independent businesses.
The two groups were launched by Jessie Radies, who with husband Darcy owns and operates the Blue Pear restaurant, one of Edmonton’s truly romantic dining spots.
